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ORT ORLEANS 



ON THE MISSOURI 



I ITS LOCATION AND HISTORY, WITH 
SOME ACCOUNT OF BOURGMONT'S 
EXPEDITIONS TO THE PADOUCAS 



Bv MILLARD FILLMORE STIPES 



JAMESPORT, MO 

PRtNTSD AT THE GAZBTTB OFFICE 

1906 



FORT ORLEANS 

ON THE MISSOURI 



ITS LOCATION AND HISTORY, WITH 
SOME ACCOUNT OF BOURGMONT'S 
EXPEDITIONS TO THE PADOUCAS 



By MILLARD FILLMORE STIPES 



JAMESPORT, MO 

PRLNTED AT THE GAZETTE OFFICE 
1906 



2^ 



'^ 



'A? 



PREFATORY NOTE 

A PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE of the topography 
of the country about all the sites claimed for 
old Fort Orleans has roade its history attractive 
to the writer, and that attraction has resulted 
in this pamphlet. All known authorities on 
its history have been consulted, and the lan- 
guage of the French writers themselves is giv- 
en rather than a mere summary of their pages. 

The writer acknowledges his indebtedness 
to Judge Walter B. Douglas, of St. Louis; Miss 
Mary Louise Dalton, Librarian of the Missouri 
Historical Society, St. Louis; Dr. Reuben Gold 
Thwaites, of the Wisconsin Historical Society, 
Madison, Wisconsin; Phil E. Chappell,' of Kan- 
sas City; Hiram Ferril and G. W. Latimer, Mar- 
shall, Missouri; and George W. Martin, of the 
Kansas Historical Association, Topeka. The 
extracts from the sixth volume of Margry, ex- 
cept where otherwise noted, are from the man- 
uscript translation by E. A. Kilian, of Manhat- 
tan, Kansas, in the possession of the Missouri 
Historical Society, at St. Louis, and kindly 
loaned the writer for use in the preparation 
of this pamphlet. M. F. S. 

Jamesport, Mo, 

JO November, igo6. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

First Explorers of Missouri, . . . 6 

First Settlements in Missouri. . . ■ . 6 

Dutisne's Expeditions, . . . . 7 

Spanish Caravan of 1720, . . . 8 

Bourgmont- Establishes Fort Orleans, . . 9 
Fort Orleans Under Du Bois, . . .11 

Old Fort in Saline County, . , . 13 

Sites Claimed for Fort Orleans, . . . 17 
Bradbury and Brackenridge, . . , .18 

Statement of Lewis and Clark, . . '''. 19 

The Missouris at Petitesas Plains . . ■ . ^^ 

Du Pratz's Location of the Fort. , . . 22 

Government Survey of Lewis and Clark's Island, . 23 

Affidavit of Surveyor of Saline County, . . 23 

Letter of Sieur Pi esle, .... 25 

Letter of Bienville, .... 25 

Bienville to Board of Regents, ... 26 

Memoranda for Bourgmont, ... 26 
Bourgmont's Instructions, . . .28 

Bienville to Boisbriant, .... 30 
Memoire of Renaudiere, . . , .31 

Bourgmont to Council of Louisiana, . . 35 

Commission of Bourgmont, . , . 37 

Frauds by French Traders, ... 40 

•'Le Grande Passe," .... 41 

Location of Village of the Missouris, . , 42 

Quotations from Le Page du Pratz, ... 44 

Remarks on Map of Du Pratz, ... 47 

Bourgmont's Relation of Expeditions to the Padoucas, 48 

Gaillard Sent to the Padouca Villages, . . 53 

Bourgmont's Second Expedition, ... 55 
Arrives at Padouca Village. . . .57 

Effects a Treaty With the Padoucas, . , 58 

Manners and Customs of the Padoucas, . . 58 



7 ABLE OF CONTENTS 



bourgmont Reaches Fort Orleans Again. 

Signatures to the Relation, 

Instructions to Abandon Fort Orleans, 

La Harpe's Relation of Dutisne's Journty, 

Stoddard on the Spanish Caravan, . 

Date of the Location of Missouris at Petitesas Plains, 

Statement in Coues's Edition of Lewis and Clark, 

D'Anville's and Perrin du Lac's Maps, 

Destruction ot Fort Orleans and Massacre of Garrison, 

Remarks on Bourgmont's Journey, 

Location of Fort Orleans According to Bourgmont, 

Significance of French Term, "Riviere," 

Author's Conclusions, 



PAGE 

6t 
62 
62 
63 
63 
64 
64 
64 
65 
65 
66 
67 
67 



Erkatum.— On page 47, in second line from bottom, read 
•sixth" instead of "first." 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE 
MISSOURI 

It is not known who was the first white 
man to penetrate the wilds in the interior of 
the region which now comprises the imperial 
State of Missouri, nor w^ho first traversed our 
commonwealth to its Western limits; but it 
was doubtless some wandering couretir de bois or 
voyageur, lured up the swift and muddy current 
of the Missouri by the promise of a canoe-load 
of rich peltries. To be sure it may be, as some 
claim, that the wanderings of the ill-starred 
command of De Soto took the Spaniards under 
him within the present boundaries of the State, 
but even if this surmise be correct, it is of no 
historical value. It is probable, however, that 
ere the closing year of the seventeenth century 
canoes driven by w^hite men had plowed the 
dark waters of the Missouri at least as far up 
as the mouth of the Kaw. 

It is not on record that Marquette and Jol- 
liet, who, in 1673, passed both dow^n and up the 
Mississippi along the entire Eastern boundary 
of Missouri, made a single landing on the 



6 FORT ORLEANS ON THE AflSSOUR/ 

Western bank, nor do their journals mention 
that any Indians were seen on that side of the 
stream within the present limits of the State. 
The same is true of the voyage of La Salle, 
made nine years later. Tljey were told of 
tribes who lived farther to the West, but neith- 
er these tribes nor the buffaloes upon which 
they subsisted penetrated far into the great 
forests that covered the Eastern portions of the 
commonwealth. 

In the very beginning of the eighteenth 
century the French began to explore Missouri, 
and as early as 1705 sent an expedition up the 
Missouri River, which ascended that stream to 
the site of Kansas City, "meeting with a friend- 
ly reception from the natives. Soon after they 
were engaged in a profitable trade with the 
Kanzas and Missouri." (Peck's Annals, p. 670.) 
About 1710 they began to make settlements, 
but none of these earlier ones were permanent, 
— they were merely stations established for 
convenience while exploring for mineral 
wealth. The first of these, according to Judge 
Walter B. Douglas, of St. Louis, was near the 
mouth of the Riviere dcs Peres, between Jeffer- 
son Barracks and Carondelet, "a party of mis- 
sionaries establishing themselves there in the 
latter part of the seventeenth century, probably 
the same party who established themselves at 
Cahokia and started the settlement there be- 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 7 

tween 1690 and 1700. In 1719 there was a set- 
tlement, if it can be so called, on the Maramec 
River, started by the Sieur de Lochon who was 
then with a party to open a silver mine. He 
found only poor lead and -went back to France 
disgusted. Others went there seeking silver 
until finally, in 1721, Renaud, who was repre- 
senting a private company, found a good lead 
mine. From that time on there w^ere w^hite 
people established in that part of the State." 
(Judge W. B. Douglas.) 

One of the earlest expeditions into Mis- 
souri was that made by M. De Dutisne in 1719. 
He iirst ascended the Missouri River, so Park- 
man says in his "Half Century of Conflict," to 
a point afterward called Petitesas (Petite 
Osage) Plains, w^hen his farther advance was 
barred by the Missouris whose village stood at 
this place. He then returned to the Illinois 
and shortly afterward started Westward from 
a point about where Ste. Genevieve is located, 
and at a distance of seventy leagues (210 miles) 
came to the Osage River. On the Western 
shore he met the first Indians seen <)n the jour- 
ney — the Osages. A few more leagues to the 
West brought him to the Pawnees, who forbade 
his progress farther in that direction. Then he 
turned his steps to the North or Northeast and 
came to a village of the Little Osages, near 
the present site of Malta Bend (Saline County). 



8 FORT ORLEANS ON THE AflSSOURI 

His journal locates this village "six leagues 
above the luouth of ( rrand Kiver." 

This expedition of Dutisne aroused the 
Spaniards to a realization of the fact that if 
they wished to secure the fur trade of the re- 
gion contiguous to the Missouri River, they 
must obtain possession of that territory. Ac- 
cordingly an expedition was dispatched from 
Santa Fe in 1720, under the command of Gen- 
eral Villageur. This caravan, as it is usually 
termed, was comprised of soldiers and adven- 
turers, some at least of w^hom took their fami- 
lies along. The instructions given Villageur 
were that the French must be driven off the 
Missouri. Somewhere along the Missouri be- 
tween the mouth of the Kaw and the mouth of 
Grand River the caravan fell in \vith the Mi.«.- 
Bouri tribe of Indians w^hom the Spaniards 
mistook for a friendl3'^ tribe. The white men 
boasted loudly of their intention to drive the 
French out of that region. The red chiefs con- 
cealed their true character, summoned their 
absent w^arriors, two thousand of whom speed- 
ily gathered, and on the night before the Span- 
iards were to march, murdered the entire cara- 
van save one priest who afterward escaped and 
made known the fate of his companions. 

Recognizing the necessity of taking armed 
possession of the region thus threatened by the 
Spaniards, the French commandant at New 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 9 

Orleans, in the spring of 1721, sent a detach- 
ment of thirty soldiers under the command of 
Etienne Vengard de Bourgmont, of Mobile. 
His instructions were to establish a fort some- 
where above the mouth of the Osage. The lo- 
cation of this fort (which was called Orleans) 
has never been definitely determined; but it 
was somewhere near the mouth of Grand Riv- 
er,— perhaps on an island five miles below said 
mouth, perhaps on a bluff two miles South of 
the present town of Miami, perhaps on the 
North side of the Missouri and opposite the 
Petitesas Plains. It will be our task to give in 
these pages the arguments and data urged in 
favor of each of these locations. Neither do 
historical writers agree as to the date of its es- 
tablishment, as we shall show. 

In the summer of 1724 (though some Wri- 
ters give an earlier date), Captain Bourgmont 
set out from Fort Orleans on a visit to the Kan 
sas Indians, near the mouth of the Kaw, thence 
to the villages of the Padoucas (Comanches) in 
Western Kansas. Bourgmont was accompa- 
nied by Ensign Bellrive, Sieur Philip Renau- 
diere (mining engineer and director-general for 
the mines of Louisiana), five soldiers, three 
Canadians, servants, and 176 Osage and Mis- 
souri Indians, under the command of a grand 
chief of the latter tribe. Eleven soldiers under 
rharge of Lieutenant Saint Ange had previous- 



10 FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

ly been dispatched to the Kansas village with 
several boats laden with merchandise. On the 
afternoon of July 7th, 1724, Bourgmont's party 
arrived at the East bank of the Missouri, oppo- 
site the village of the Kansas Indians. On the 
next morning the white men of the expedition 
crossed over in a pirogue, the horses being 
swam over, while the Indians w^ere ferried on 
rafts. Says Bourgmont: "We debarked within 
gunshot distance of the village where we en- 
camped." 

The river detachment arrived on the 19th, 
and on the 24th was the "grand departure" for 
Western Kansas. To use the words of Bourg- 
mont's Relatiojt, yuiti-Nov., 1724: "We put our- 
selves in battle array on the heights of the vil- 
lage, the drum began to beat the march and we 
marched away." In Renaudiere's Memoire oc- 
curs th<; following: "At six o'clock on the morn- 
ing of July 24th, 1724, we began our march. I 
stood by the side of the path and watched 
the whole procession as it passed by. The 
white men were about twenty in all. I counted 
three hundred Indian warriors, with as many 
squaws, some five hundred children, and a pro- 
digious number of dogs, the largest and strong- 
est of which dragged heavy loads. The squaws 
all served as beasts of burden and they will 
carry as much as a dog will drag." Tlie In- 
dians were under two grand chiefs and thirteen 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 11 

war chiefs. The object of the expedition was 
to induce the Paducas, who were friendly to 
the Spaniards, to enter into a treaty of peace 
with the tribes along the Missouri River. 

During the absence of Bourgmont, Sergeant 
Du Bois (according to some authorities) was 
left in charge at Fort Orleans. Du Bois had 
taken for wife a maiden of the Missouris, said 
to be as beautiful as an houri. But all Indian 
women w^ho became the ivives of w^hite men 
are said to have been beautiful. The village of 
her tribe was located on the Bowling Green 
Prairie, a few miles below the mouth of Grand 
River, on the North bank of the Missouri, and 
opposite the island on which stood Fort Or- 
leans. The Frenchmen made canoe trips up 
the Missouri and the Grand {La Riviere de Grande 
they designated the latter), and it may be that 
some of these plucky Gauls ventured within 
the present limits of Livingston and Daviess 
Counties, —being, if the conjecture be correct, 
the first white men in this region. And here 
they doubtless met some of those savages who 
afterwards were instrumental in the destruc- 
tion of the fort, — unless that were the work of 
the Missouri tribe, as some w^riters claim. 

Bourgmont's first expedition was a failure, 
owing to the serious illness of its commander. 
With great reluctance, doubtless, the party, af- 
ter six days' journey from the Kansas village. 



12 FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

retraced its steps, carrying the helpless leader 
on a litter, reaching Fort Orleans in safetj^ 
first dispatching one Gaillard and two Coman- 
che slaves to the tribe of the latter with friend- 
ly messages. Receiving news that the mission 
of Gaillard was successful, Bourgmont on the 
20tli of September, of the saine year, set out 
again for the Padouca villages. This time his 
lucky star attended him and the desired peace 
became an accomplished fact. Some writers 
(among them Phil H. Chappell) claim that on 
his return to Fort Orleans in November fol- 
lowing, Bourgtnont found that during his ab- 
sence the entire garrison at the fort had been 
massacred, "probably by the fierce Indians from 
the North side of the Missouri," and that he, 
with his few remaining followers, made his way 
East, reaching the forts on the Illinois the last 
of December, 1724. But in the proper place we 
shall show, from Bourgmont's own Relation, that 
the soldiers of the garrison at Fort Orleans 
were very much alive on his return in Novem- 
ber. The garrison was massacred — there seems 
to be no doubt as to that, — but it was at a date 
subsequent to the commander's return. 

The consensus of f)pinion is that Fort Or- 
leans was established on an island five miles 
below the mouth of the Grand, and on the 
South side of the main channel of the Missouri. 
Two miles Soiitli of Miami, however, are still 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 13 

plainly visible the ruins of an earthen fort, be- 
lieved by some to be the location of this French 
fort. And one early writer (Margry) put the 
fort near the Petitesas Plains, apparently on 
the North side of the Missouri, as stated above. 

Of the old fort near Miami and the region 
thereabouts, rich in historic finds, the History 
of Saline County, compiled and published by 
the "Missouri Historical Company, of St. Louis," 
in 1881, says: 

"On the Missouri River, near the Pinnacles, 
in Saline County, in Section 19, Township 52» 
Range 21, and Section 24, Township 52, Range 
22, in the field of Edward Casebolt, there is one 
of these old forts, in which have been found at 
various times human bones, entire skeletons, 
jawbones and leg bones, all much larger than 
men of the present time. This field of Mr. 
Casebolt's and also that of Mr. Richard Wil- 
liams contain numerous mounds. West by 
Southwest from this old fort in the Pinnacles 
are to be seen a series of conical shaped mounds, 
varying from three to seven feet in height, and 
having a circumference of from fifty to one 
hundred feet, w^hich evidently (as well from the 
remains found as from their conical shape) be- 
long to the sepulchral class of mounds. Many 
specimens of pottery have been found here — 
jars, double-headed jugs, very similar to those 
used in early times in Eastern countries. One 



14 FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

human skull was here found with an arrow 
point sticking in it, entering about the corner 
of the frontal bone. An iron crown was also 
found here, indicating that somewhere in the 
shadowy past royalty dwelt in these fair and 
favored regions. Pikes, hatchets, axes and 
clubs of stone and iron have been found in 
great abundance. Mortars and pestles, not for 
the compounding of drugs and medicines, but 
for the preparation of food, were found near 
this old fort, but made of peculiar stone that 
does not belong to this region. Many have 
been led to believe from the vast quantity of 
human bones found in this vicinity that there 
was either a common burial place here, or that 
once a great battle was fought in this locality, 
in which the slain were numbered by thous- 
ands. 

"Indeed these mounds are to be found, at 
intervals of a few hundred yards to a mile, all 
along the high ground bordering the adjacent 
river bottom. The mounds of the Mound 
Huilders are to be found in almost every part 
of the county, on the bluffs of the streams. 
They are by no means confined to the Pinna- 
cles, though the most important of them are 
there. These mounds all antedate the recollec- 
tion of the Indians who were found here by the 
first white men. They told the first white set- 
tlers that they were utterly ignorant of the ori- 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 15 

gin of them. They abound along the bluffs 
from Arrow Rock up. Near Arrow Rock a jaw- 
bone was found that, upon close investigation, 
was determined belonged to a child not over 
ten years of age, yet it was fully as large as the 
present adult jawbone. How it was deter- 
mined that the owner of the jaw^bone was only 
and exactly ten years of age is not recorded. 
The pottery found in these mounds is very sim- 
ilar to some made by the Pueblo Indians of 
New Mexico. 

"The old fort alluded to above is situated 
in Section 24, Township 52, Range 22. It crowns 
the summit of one of the Pinnacles, comprises 
an area of perhaps six acres. In a complete 
sense it is not at all a fort; it is merely a breast- 
work of an irregular elliptical form, made to 
conform to the topography of the ground en- 
closed. The ground slopes from the breast- 
work on every side but one — that next the 
mainland. This sloping, in nearly t?very part, 
is quite steep, and the crest of the, Pinnacle is 
several hundreds of feet above the main land 
below. Immediately at the foot of the Pin- 
nacleds the Missouri River bottom, along which 
or over w^hich the river ran at one time. Upon 
the Eastern side of the ^vorks a narrow neck of 
level ground leads to the main land; and at 
one place on the side next the river is an in- 
clined plane leading down to the bottom. This 



1({ rORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

plane is not covered with trees of any consider- 
able size or age, although the surrounding land 
is heavily timbered." (History of Saline Coun- 
ty, Missouri, pp. 135, 136, 137.) 

A newspaper correspondent (kollins Bing- 
ham) who visited the site of this fort in 1904 
says of it: 

"The old fort is now almost obliterated and 
hard to trace. Some years ago a negro put in 
a crop of corn over the site and now the whole 
is covered with a scrub growth of thorny bush- 
es, sumac and sassafras. The plowing so re- 
duced the height of the embankments that now 
they show but little above the level, but those 
w^ho remember the place before it became a 
cornfield are all agreed that the walls were 
from four to six feet high and bore marks of 
having once been much higher. Inside the 
fortified area the ground is comparatively level, 
and, curiously enough, they tell me no relics of 
any kind have ever been found there. Prof. 
Lewis, of Minnesota, who is an authority on 
such matters as prehistoric remains in Amer- 
ica, came to Miami some years ago and naade 
an exhaustive examination and survey of the 
old fort. He pronounced it the work of the 
Mound Builders." 

The writer has never been able to find a 
description of Fort Orleans, but frontier forts 
in that day were usually made by setting hewn 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 17 

logs on end, fitting them closely together, with 
loop holes at frequent intervals through \srhich 
to fire rifles. And there were at the corners or 
other salient points small blockhouses, standing 
out from the corners, t^^ro stories in height, so 
placed and constructed that contiguous outer 
walls of the fort could be protected. If the fort 
boasted of cannon (as did Fort Orleans), these 
were usually placed in these little blockhouses. 
The only earthw^orks were sloping w^alls of 
earth on the inner side of the palisades, to 
strengthen the wall and to elevate the riflemen 
while firing through the loopholes. 

Now it has been seen that the earthworks 
at the old fort on the "Pinnacles" covered 
some six acres and the wall was originally six 
or eight feet in height. The force at Fort Or- 
leans was never greater than twenty-five or 
thirty men; nor w^as the station occupied for a 
period longer than four years — probably for 
considerably less. It is scarcely necessary to 
add that a garrison so small would never build 
an earthen fortification covering six acres, nor 
could they protect or defend it if they had. So 
it is safe to dismiss this old fort as the possi- 
ble remains of Fort Orleans, established by 
Captain Bourgmont about 1722. 

Stoddard, in his "Historical Sketches," says 
that Fort Orleans was located on an Island in 



18 FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

the Missouri, some distance above the mouth 
of the Osage. Peck's "Annals of the West" 
(p. 071) makes the same statement. 

The sit«; of this island, which several wri- 
ters locate opposite the plain on which stood 
the village of the Missouris, is, according to re- 
cent measurements of United States engin- 
eers, 255 miles above the mouth of the river. 
Le Page du Pratz, "who settled near the Nat- 
chez [in 1718], where he resided for eight years, 
gathered much curious information from the 
Indians. This information he gave to the 
world in a Histoirc de la Louisianc forty years 
later (1758)." (Justin Winsor, "The Mississippi 
Basin," p, 106.) Du Pratz locates Fort Orleans 
on an island in the Missouri, opposite the vil- 
lage of the Indians of the same name. 

De Dutisne, in the voyage up the Missouri, 
to which reference has been made above, states 
that it is eighty leagues to the village t)f the 
Missouris from the mouth of the river of that 
name. 

Charlevoix conversed with a woman of the 
Missouri tribe in October, 1721, who informed 
him that her nation was the first met with in 
going up the Missouri River, and that it was 
eighty leagues above the confluence of that 
iilream with the Mississippi. 

John Bradbury says in his "Travels in the 
Interior of America," p. 39. "April 2, 1811. -We 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 19 

this day passed the scite of a village on the 
Northeast side of the river, once belonging to 
the Missouri tribe. Four miles above it are 
the remains of Fort Orleans, formerly belong- 
ing to the French; it is 240 miles from the 
mouth of the Missouri. We passed the mouth 
of La Grande Riviere, near w^hich I first ob- 
served the appearance of prairie." 

H. M. Hrackenridge, who journeyed up the 
Missouri in the same year, says: "At 236 miles 
there had been an ancient village of the Mis- 
souris, and near by formerly stood Fort Or- 
leans." (Table of Distances, p. 243.) 

Uossu's "Travels in Louisiana" (1752) says 
that the fort was near the town of the Missouri 
Indians. 

In the Riddle edition of the Journals of 
Lew^is and Clark, we find the following: "June 
10, 1804. — Passed two rivers called by the 
French the two Charatons, a corruption of 
Thieraton, the first of which is thirty, and the 
second seventy yards w^ide, and enter the Mis- 
souri together." (Five miles above the party 
w^ent into camp, where they remained on the 
11th on account of a heavy head wind. On the 
12th, but nine miles w^ere made, and on the 
13th, after going five miles— or ^ total of nine- 
teen from the mouths of the Charitons — two 
small streams called Round Bend Creeks, empt- 
ying from the North side, were reached.) "Be- 



20 FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

tween these two creeks is the prairie in which 
once stood the ancient village of the Missouris. 
Of this village there remains no vestige, nor is 
there anything to recall this great and numer- 
ous nation, except a feeble remnant of about 
thirty' families. They were driven from their 
original seats In' the incursions of the Sauks 
and other Indians from the Mississippi, who 
destroyed at this village two hundred of them 
in one contest, and sought refuge near the Lit- 
tle Osage, on the other side of the river. The 
encroachments of these same enemies forced, 
about thirty years ago, both these nations from 
the banks of the Missouri, A few retired 
to the village on the Osage, and the remainder 
found an asylum on the river Platte, among 
the Ottoes, who are themselves declining. Op- 
posite the plain there was an island and a 
French fort, but there is now no appearance of 
either, the successive inundations having prob- 
ably washed them away, as the willow island 
which is in the situation described by I)u Pratz 
is small and of recent formation. Five miles 
from this place is the mouth of Grand River, 
where w^e encamped." 

On the 15th is this record of their encamp- 
ment, twenty-two miles above the mouth of the 
Grand and on the North bank of the Missouri: 
"In front of our encampment are the remains 
(»f an old village of the Little Osage, situated 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 21 

at some distance from the river, and at the foot 
of a small hill. About three miles above them, 
in view of our camp, is the situation of the old 
village of the Missouris after they fled from 
the Sauks." 

The location of this village of the Missouris 
seems to be definitely ascertained, as these 
authorities practically agree, — though it is pos- 
sible that all base 'their statements on that 
made by Du Pratz in his Histoire de la Louisiane. 
The old fort in the "Pinnacles," described above, 
is up the river some nineteen miles from Round 
Bend, though distant only ten miles as the bee 
flies, owing to a great bend in the stream. 

At the time of the exploration of the Mis- 
sissippi by Marquette and Jolliet (1673), the 
Missouri tribe of Indians were located near the 
mouth of the great stream w^hich today bears 
their name. They were then a numerous and 
warlike nation. Continuous warfare with the 
Sacs and Foxes drove them from this locality 
about the close of the seventeenth century, and 
they set up their wigwams on the Bowling 
Green Prairie, on the North bank of the Mis- 
souri and a few miles below the mouth of the 
Grand. But misfortune in the shape of their 
hereditary enemies followed them, for Du Pratz, 
writing about 1758, says: "The Missouris were 
recently engaged in another w^ar with the Sacs 
and Foxes and more than two hundred of them 



22 FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

were killed in one engagfenieiit. The remain- 
der, consisting of thirty families, then sought 
refuge with their neighbors, the Little Osages, 
across the river." Here they remained until 
about I77f) when both tribes were attacked by 
their old enemies, the Sacs and Foxes, and the 
beautiful Petitesas Plains were abandoned by 
the aborigines forever. Knins of fortifications 
yet mark the location of both villages, only a 
short distance apart, that of the Osages on land 
owned by Mrs. A. G. Discus, and the other on a 
tract belonging to Ben McKoberts, both near 
the present town of Malta Bend (Phil E. Chap- 
pell). A portion of the Missouris followed the 
Osages to the village of the (ireat Osages, in 
the Southwest part of the State; the remainder 
took refuge with the Otoes, at the mouth of 
the Platte. At the upper end of the Petitesas 
Plains was Le Grayide Pass, near the present vil- 
lage of Grand Pass, which was the crossing for 
all Indian war parties from the North side of 
the river. 

The boyhood home of the present w^riter 
was between this Round Bend mentioned ])3'' 
Lewis and Clark and the old fort in the "Pinna- 
cles," perhaps three miles from the first and 
seven from the latter. Now, Lewis and Clark 
to the contrary, t/iere is an island at the precise 
location given by I)u Pratz, covered sixty years 
ago with trees fully as large as tliose on the 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 23 

bottom lands contiguous. Its appearance has 
been practically unchanged since the advent of 
the first white settlers in that locality, which 
was shortly after the explorations by Lewis 
and Clark, and it w^ill be show^n that this island 
existed in 1820. It is true that the channel cut- 
ting this island from the main land on the 
South is dry excepting when the river ap- 
proaches a high stage, but often has the writer 
beheld a strong and deep current racing 
through said channel. As sandbars have formed 
across both the inlet and the outlet of this 
channel, it is probable that at the time the ex- 
plorers passed the island the river was at an 
ordinary stage, and that the ends of this chan- 
nel were supposed by the voyagers to be sand- 
bars. One would have to sfo some distance back 
from the river to discover the old channel. 

In this connection the following certificate 
w^ill be of interest: 

Marshall, Mo., February 21, 1906. 
This is to certify that the island located 
about five or six miles below the present site 
of Brunswick, Missouri, was surveyed and plat- 
ted by the government surveyors in 1820, as a 
portion of Sections 13 and 24, Township 53, 
Range 20, and Section 19, Township 53, Range 
19, as found on record in the office of the Re- 
corder of Saline County, State of Missouri, and 



21 FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

that the said ishiiul is nearly one mile North 
and South, and a little over one-half mile East 
niul West, and contained about 350 acres. This 
was the first island below the town of Miami 
surveyed by the said government surveyors. 

G. \V. Latimer, 
Surveyor of Saline County, Missouri. 
Mr. Latimer adds to the above: "You will 
note that this island (No. 23 in the government 
surve}") is on the Kange line between Kanges 
19 and 20, and Brunswick is a little East of this 
line should it be extended from the Saline side. 
The mouth of Grand River was formerly above 
Brunswick, but of late years a large bar has 
formed in front of the tow n, which changes the 
mouth of the river to several miles below." He 
adds that what was known as Buckthorn 
Point, opposite the site of Brunswick, w^as cut 
off some years ago, and now forms an island on 
the North side of the Missouri, which indicates 
a great change since the writer last visited that 
locality in 1878. And it appears that much of 
the old island has washed away. Indeed the 
entire channel from a point some iwn miles 
above Brunswick to the Bowling Green plain 
seems to be much South of where it wat thirty 
years ago. But we have heard the remark 
that the Missouri holds a mortgage on all the 
lands between its bluffs, and when it sees tit 
it will foreclose wheresoever it will. 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 25 

In a letter from Sieur Presle, resident of 
the Isle of Dauphine, occurs the following: 

"June 10, 1718. 

"A resident of the Island of Dauphine writes 
that Sieur de Bourgmont, who for fifteen years 
has resided among the Missouris, may be able 
by cnaking 2000 livres' worth of presents to the 
Indians to effect some discoveries 400 or 500 
miles beyond and enter into commercial rela- 
tions with a nation of small men who have very 
large eyes, expand their noses one inch, who 
are clothed like the Europeans, go always boot- 
ed, wear spurs and plates of gold on their half 
boots, very well domiciled around a large lake 
about 600 leagues from the Panis, and always 
engaged in some fine work. It is said in this 
land are much gold and many rubies. It is be- 
lieved they are Chinese. Indians have re- 
ported the above." 

Following is an extract from a letter writ- 
ten by Hienville to the Council of Regents: 
"At Fort St. Louis of Louisiana, July 20, 1721, 

"Two hundred Spanish cavaliers with a 
large number of Indians, Padoucas, came from 
New^ Mexico to Missouri to conquer the French 
of -Illinois. They were discovered by the na- 
tions* of the Houatoototas and Panimahas, our 
allies, who met them with such vigor that they 
entirely defeated the Spaniards and their allies, 
the Padoucas. M. de Boisbriant, who com- 



20 FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

mands in Illinois, has questioned one of the 
Spaniards whose life was spared by the In- 
dians and who brought him to Fort St. Louis 
[an error by copyist or printer— Fort Chartres 
it should be] in order to ascertain from the 
man which route they had taken from New 
Mexico to the Missouri and the distance, and 
will report to the Council. 

"Done and executed the 22d day of Novem- 
ber, 1721. L. A. DE Bourbon." 

Extract from a letter written by Bienville 
to the Council of Regents: 
"At Fort St. Louis in Louisiana, April 25, 1722. 

"Of late I have been informed by Indians 
of Missouri that the Spaniards of New Mexico 
■are contemplating to return in consequence of 
their defeat and to establish themselves on the 
Canzes, which flows into the Missouri. I have 
issued orders to M. de Boisbriant to prevent 
this by sending a detachment of twenty sol- 
diers to construct a small fort on the same river 
and garrison it so as to protect our children 
from insult, who, when furnished with ammu- 
nition, are in such a condition as to resist the 
Spaniards." 

The following were the memoranda pre- 
pared for Bourgmont, and approved by S. A. 
Koyal: 

"Sieur <le I^ourgmont, who has been ap- 
pointed by the India Company, to establish a 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 27 

post in the Missouri River in Louisiana and to 
command the same,iconsents to set out on this 
expedition on conditions proposed to him, after 
having been approved by S. A. Royal. The 
said India Company is to pay his salary from 
August 12, 1720, the date of his commission, 
and cause to be paid to him on his arrival in 
Louisiana a gratuity of two thousand livres in 
merchandise. 

' "But he 'observes that this gratuity is not 
to be made to him in France; should he, how- 
eveiT; be obliged to demand' this sum in order to 
procure things necessary for his journey, then 
he may demand this toi'be paid to him before 
his departure. ; ' -^ 

"He sets fofth that the services he has ren- 
dered in Canada, and also in Louisiana, have 
merited from the S. A. Royal the cro^s of St. 
Louis, and that the hardships, privations -and 
dangers he' already has beeh^&ubject to and is 
to undergo in the execution of his enterprise 
cannot be compensated' in money, he expects if 
he is fortunate enough to succeed, S. A. Royal 
fcould well afford to grant him letters of riobil- 
•ity> this being the only favor he expects for the 
-important services he renders in establishing 
peace between all Indian nations located in 
Louisiana and New Mexice, to assure a route 
iox t\\Q: voyageurs \^\\\c.\v ^\\\ place the mines of 
Illinois in such a condition that they can be 



28 FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

protected against the encroachments of the 
Spaniards and upon a profitable overland trade 
to the French, something which has not yet 
been executed, and which he can do more 
promptly and with more fidelity than any one 
else, according to the ideas of the commander 
of that colony. 

"Good with the approval of S. A. Royal." 

We now present the instructions given to 
Bourgmont on his assuming command on the 
Missouri: 

**S. A. Koyal having approved the commis- 
sion given by the India Company to Sieur de 
Bourgmont to assume the command on the 
river Missouri and to establish a post, he will 
without delay proceed to Louisiana and em- 
bark on the first vessel sailing to Louisiana. 

"On his arrival in that colony he will re- 
ceive the orders of M. de Bienville, Conamander- 
General, instructing him to repair to his desti- 
nation and to execute there to the welfare of 
the King's and the India Company's service. 

"He will request the said Sieur de Bien- 
ville and the Council of the Colonies to speed 
his expedition and to furnish him promptly 
with the material necessary for his expedition 
and the success of the project. 

"He will then proceed to the Illinois, where 
he will receive the orders of M. de Boisbriant, 
fir«t lirutenant to the King in the colonies, and 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 29 

at this place will determine the site where the 
post is to be established on the Missouri River, 
and upon the course he is to pursue in regard 
to the Indian nations, and the proper conditions 
under which he will make peace treaties with 
them. 

"The said Sieur* de l^oisbriant is to give 
him an order and instructions in writing and 
sign these in duplicate, one of which the said 
M. de Boisbrant shall forward to us. 

"Sieur de Bourgmont, knowing w^ell enough 
the object of a post on the Missouri and ap- 
proaching the Spaniards, in order to establish 
commercial relations with them, however, 
whenever he establishes his post, he has to for- 
tify it, so that in case of a rupture with the 
Spaniards it will afford support. He cannot be 
too careful in the choice of a location where the 
establishment is to be founded, for on its situa- 
tion success of the enterprise is dependent. 

"He also know^s the importance of inducing 
the Padoucas to enter into a treaty of peace 
with all Indian nations allied with the French. 
He will spare no endeavor to bring this about, 
as this is one of the principal objects of the 
expedition. 

"After having made said establishment and 
effected an alliance with the Padoucas, we ask 
M. de Boisbriant that the said Sieur de Bourg- 
mont shall engage several chiefs of the princi- 



30 FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

pal nations to accompany him to France, in or- 
der to give them an idea of the power and the 
might of the French, and said Sieur de Bois- 
briant and the Council of the Colonies will pro- 
vide all that is necessary for this purpose. 

"If Sieur de Bourgmont is successful in 
carrying out the agreement into whicli he has 
entered with the company and whereof men- 
tion is made heretofore, for a period of two 
years, if he desires the Council will permit him 
to return to France, and enjoy the favors prom- 
ised by S. A. Koyal. In order to avail himself 
of this permission he shair report to M. de Bois- 
briant and the Council of the Colonies for a 
certificate showing that he has established a 
strong fort on the Missouri and that he has ef- 
fected a treaty of peace between the Padoucas 
and those savage tribes, allied with the French, 
against whom they are at war. 

"Done in France the 17th day of January; 
1722. 

"Signed: Fagon, . Ferrani, 

Machault, Dodun." 

The following is an extract from a letter 
written to Boisbriant by Bienville, at New Or- 
leans, on August 20, 1723, which extract Bois- 
briant sent to Bourgmont in Missouri, and 
which he received at the Cantonment, Febru- 
ary H, 1724: 

"If I were in your place I would order M. 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 31 

• 

de Bourgmont to proceed higher up the Mis- 
souri, if you judge proper, with twenty soldiers 
to establish a small post and I w^ould select for 
him a small assortment of merchandise to make 
presents to the Indians. You know that these 
nations are not accustomed to receive much; 
they are contented with little. In case he can- 
not accomplish a peace treaty with the Padou- 
cas, I cannot see that it will be a very great 
misfortune. You know as w^ell as I do that this 
peace will not last very long, your nations of 
the Missouri are invariably, after such a treaty, 
troublesome, and new presents are alw^ays de- 
manded to bring them around again." 

In the Memoire of' Sieur de la Renaudiere, 
who accompanied Bourgmont on his expedi^ 
tion up the Missouri and to the Padoucas, ap- 
pears the following, as adjoined to a letter by 
M. Perry, of September 1, 1723. It is of interest 
as it gives the ideas prevalent at that time re- 
garding the mines on the Missouri: 

**In order to locate these mines he has to go 
to the great villages of the Osagefe, the habita- 
tions of the Indians among whom the voyageurs 
go, situated on a river by that name. It has its 
source in Missouri; it is 150 leagues long. From 
its mouth to Fort Chartres in Illinois are fifty 
leagues, to-w^it: from this fort to the mouth of 
the Missouri, twenty leagues; from the mouth 
to a small' river flowing from the South, ten 



32 FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

• 

U-agues; higher up from thi8 river is another 
flowing from the same direction, again ten 
leagues; and at the same distance from the last 
one is that of the Osages. The voyageurs and In- 
dians report for certain that the village of the 
Osages is surrounded by fine mountains and 
prairies, and these Indians report that there are 
a number of mines of pure copper, and that 
they found pieces weighing seven and eight 
pounds. 

"Following the Missouri fifteen leagues 
higher up you find the river of the Barque com- 
ing from the South; six leagues from there is 
another river called the river La Mine. The 
voyageurs who traveled about in the neighbor- 
hood report as above, that there are mines of 
several kinds of ore; they have no knowledge 
of metals and know nothing of their produc- 
tiveness. 

"Continuing to ascend, there is another riv- 
er called Grand River coming from the North, 
there the Indians report quantities of pieces of 
copper which they find in the vicinity of that 
river. From there you go to the village of the 
Missouris which is not more than six leagues 
from there to the Southward. There are at that 
place one hundred lodges. There is the place 
where M. de Bourgmont should establish 
himself. 

"Tliirty leagues farther up 3'ou find thrt riv- 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 33 

er of the Quans, a beautiful stream. Voyageurs 
and Indians report likewise a number of mines, 
but do not know the locality. Thirty leagues 
still higher up a small river is found coming 
from the South where the great village of the 
Quans, consisting of 150 lodges, adjoining the 
Missouris, is found. There are fine prairies to 
the South and many mountains to the West. 
There are, pursuant to the reports of several 
voyagetcrs, copper mines; they have reported sev- 
eral heavy pieces of about fifteen pounds in 
weight, together with rock crystal. 

"Continuing to ascend farther up you find 
a river which leads you to another river, called 
Panis River, distance twenty-two leagues, 
which is also large like the Missouri; you find 
fifteen leagues up this river a village by this 
name (Panis) composed of 150 lodges. The voy- 
ageurs report, according to information received, 
that there are many mines. 

"In ascending the latter river eight leagues 
you w^ill find one called Cerfecorne (Broken 
Deer Horn — Klk River). Within thirty leagues 
eight Panis villages are found, about a half 
league distant from each other; the number of 
inhabitants is not know^n. 

"Thirty leagues from the Missouri River 
are a number of mines. At all of these places 
the Spaniards have located mines, in order to 
establish posts. The Indians, in 1720, would 



34 FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

not tolerate them. After their war the Indians 
found manj' pieces of money made by the 
Spaniards. 

"The mountains in these parts are like 
those where that nation always found silver 
mines of which they always make much use. 
Voyageurs brought to Pensacola in 1715 pieces 
from these mines, which they melted and ex- 
tracted very fine silver, as good, they say, as 
that they take from their mines. 

"Sixty leagues up the Missouri, travelling 
across several rivers, the Mahas are found to- 
wards the North, where there are also a num- 
ber of mines. There are several roving nations 
who are much at war with the Spaniards, and 
^vho often charge upon the mules and other an- 
imals with which the Spaniards form their 
trains, when working near them. If the In- 
dians catch any one they kill them, but aban- 
don their treasures, for they do not know the 
value thereof, saying it is tin. 

"There is every reason to believe that they 
are very cunning, for the Canadian called La 
Fleur, a voyageur, w^ho went to trade with them, 
found some pieces carelessly laj'ing about their 
lodges; they told him that it was tin. It is 
of value. He traded for more than two hun- 
dred dollars' worth. This opened their eyes, 
and they promised to gather more of it and give 
it to him tile next time he would come again. 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 35 

*'Ten leagues from this place is the nation 
of the Ricaras. They reported that there are 
mountains of stupendous height, and a number 
of streams, and where sand is of yellow color, 
and it is said by the interpreter that this sand 
does not yield to the strike of the hammer. 
The experience and knowledge I have of ores 
and earths containing metals, I must say there 
is no sand of this color and hardness, unless 
found as gold dust or otherwise in placer 
diggings. 
"New Orleans, August 23, 1723." 

The following is a letter -written by Bourg- 
mont to the Council of Louisiana, on January 
11, 1724: 

"The season had advanced, w^here we are, 
w^hen I had the honor to write to you in my last 
dated November 27, 1723, the departure of our 
boats has stopped, for the floating ice renders 
navigation impossible. I state to you, gentle- 
men, that I expect an interview with the na- 
tions on the upper part of the river, allied w^ith 
us, and to take measures to enter into a treaty 
of peace with the Padoucas. I have been very 
much surprised to hear that the Hotos and 
Agovis have formed a strong alliance w^ith the 
Sioux and the Reynards, our enemies. These 
two nations w^anted to sing the calumet w^ith 
me, but which I w^ould not accept, until the 
chiefs of these two nations had given me satis- 



36 FORT ORLEANS ON THE AflSSOURI 

faction. I have made them all reasonable re- 
proaches, accompanied by menaces. They have 
bewailed it and carried me in triumph, promis- 
ing not only to break their alliance, but also to 
fight them, and to do all I order them to do. 

"I came at the right time to break a league, 
when indeed the two nations had dropped their 
mask against us. The Mahas and Panimahas 
have also united with them. It would have 
been impossible to found an establishment on 
this river, I doubt if M. de Boisbriant will be 
able to hold this post. I believe that poverty 
caused by the want of merchandise has induced 
the Agovis and Hotos to engag<; in an alliance 
with the Sioux and Reynards. Only a single 
Frenchman has visited them at this village 
since I departed frorri them five years ago to go 
to France. 

"In all my letters, gentlemen, I have had 
the honor to state that in order to induce these 
Indians to further our interests, it is absolutely 
necessary to have merchandise sufficient to buy 
their beaver skins and other peltries. I have- 
sent the calumet to all nations to assemble here 
at the end of next March; after the calumet is 
sung, to agree with them to set out for the 
Padoucas." 

All the foregoing documents and letters are 
translated from Pierre Margry's "Decouvertes 
et Etablissements des Francais dans I'Ouest et 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 37 

dans le Sud de TAmerique Septentrionale (1614- 
1754)," Vol. VI, and so far as we know appear 
here for the first time in English. We giv^e 
thena complete, comprising as they do the prin- 
cipal source whence our knowledge of Fort Or- 
leans and of Bourgmont's expeditions (the Re- 
lation of the latter w^ill be given below) is ob- 
tained. The title given these papers in Margry 
is as follows: "Relations of the French w^ith Va- 
rious Peoples, the Missouris, the Canzes, the 
Ototoctas, the Osages, the Agovis, the Panis, 
the Panimahas, the Ricaras, and the Padoucas. 
— Etienne Vengard de Bourgmont Establishes- 
Fort Orleans on the Missouri and Effects Peace 
Between Several Nations and the Padoucas." 

In the library of the Missouri Historical So- 
ciety, at St. Louis, is the original commission 
that Bourgmont received from the Company of 
the Indies. This document has been translated- 
(for the first time) especially for this brochure, 
and we present it herewith, — doubtless the first 
time it has been printed. It will be observed 
that the name of the officer is spelled "Bour- 
mont" in the commission. Justin Winsor gives 
this and one or two other variations in the or- 
thography of this name — indeed it seems that 
each French writer had his own method of 
spelling proper nouns. The document is not 
entirely legible and the translator was unable 
to decipher some words: 



38 FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

"Commission of Captain of Infantry 
in Louisiana, for the Sieur de Bourmont. 

"The Directors of the Company of the In- 
dies to tlie Sieur de Hourinont, Greeting: Ta- 
king into consideration the services which you 
have rendered to the King and to the Company 
in the country of Louisiana, both by the discov- 
eries which you have made and by your acts of 
war which have caused the French nation to be 
respected and honored amongst the savages, 
and wishing to show you our (satisfaction in 
eiving you among the troops which are or may 
afterwards be sent to the said country a rank 
above that which you have until the present 
held; 

"For these causes, and other good consider- 
ations, we, in virtue of the power accorded by 
His Majesty, have named you, commissioned 
and established you, name, commission, and 
establish you, to take and hold the rank of cap- 
tain in the troops of infantry that the Company 
sends or will send in future to the colony of 
Louisiana, from the day and date present, taut 
amsif (the same as if?) you held the chief com- 
mand under the authority of the commandant 
general of the colony and of other superior offi- 
cers (of the service?). We have given and give 
power, commission, authority, special manda- 
mus. We give order to the Sieur de Bienville, 
Commandant-General of the colony, and in his 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 39 

absence to whoever may be in command, to re- 
ceive you into service, recognizing (manuscript 
blurred) quality of captain and to ( ? ) which 
he belongs to obey and hear all that you shall 
order for the glory of the name of His Majesty 
and the good of the service of the Company and 
the advantage of its commerce in the said colo- 
ny of Louisiana. These letters are the ( ? ) 
of the Company in the faith of what you have 
done. Sealed in presence w^ith the seal of the 
Company and countersigned by the Directors 
of the same. 

"Done in Paris, in (the hotel?) of the Com- 
pany of the Indies, the 26th day of the month 
of July, 1720." 

Affixed to the commission are eight signa- 
tures, two of which cannot be entirely deci- 
phered. The translator renders them thus: 
Mouchard, Fromaget, Corneau, Castanier, D'Ar- 
taguiette Diron, Lallemant de Bet, Remy (or 
Premy). Below the signatures appears, "By 
the Company, for (duplication?), Delaloe(?)." 

Gayarre, in his History of Louisiana, Vol. I, 
p. 233, says: "1 have already said that Law, who 
was director-general of the Royal Bank of 
France, was also appointed director-general of 
the Mississippi Company. The other directors 
were, D'Artaguette, Duche, Moreau, Piou, Cas- 
taignes and Mouchard." 

Another authority, a pamphlet published 



40 FORT ORLEANS OX THE MISSOURI 

in 1719, gives an official list of the directors as 
follows: Law, Kigby, Raudot, Hardancourt, J. 
(lastebois, d'Artaguiette Diron, Piou, Fromaget, 
Castanier, Gilly de Moutaud, F. Mouchard. 

There were sharpers and tricksters in the 
days of Fort Orleans, — men who increased the 
size of their packs of furs by playing upon the 
credulity and ignorance of the red men of the 
forests. One of these, it is related by Bossu, 
exchanged a barrel of gunpowder w^ith the In- 
dians about the fort for twenty times its value 
in furs, assuring them that the gunpowder so 
much desired t)v the savages was a seed, a spe- 
cies of grain, propagated by planting. His 
hearers believed him implicitly, planted their 
"seed," and waited patiently for its growth. 
After a time they realized that they had been 
duped. And it is recorded that the next French 
trader who appeared among those Indians with 
a varied assortment of merchandise, w^as con- 
siderably astf)nished, after his wares had been 
artistically displayerl in the wigwam to which 
lie had been assigned, to have the braves 
pounce upon them and carry off his entire 
stock without deigning to say a word to the 
trader. On complaining t<» the chief, the 
Frenchman was told the story of the gunpow- 
der (leal and assured that when the gunpowder 
seed grew and the crop matured, the brav©« 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 41 

would be sent on a general hunt and that out 
of the first fruits of the chase \t^ould he be re- 
munerated for the goods so ruthlessly confis- 
cated by the w^arriors. Such transactions as 
this may have led to the massacre of the little 
garrison. 

"Le Grande Passe," as it was designated 
by the French, was located three miles West of 
the present town of Malta Bend, in Saline 
County, and near the Western extremity of the 
Petitesas Plains. It w^as so called because here 
was the principal crossing on the Missouri Riv- 
er of the Iowa, Sioux, Pottaw^atomie, Fox and 
other Indian tribes of the North side of the 
stream in their frequent predatory raids against 
the Osages and the Missouris, It is near this 
crossing, on the North bank of the river, that 
some historians, following Margry, as they 
claim, locate Fort Orleans. They direct atten- 
tion to the fact that w^hen Bourgmont went on 
his first expedition to the Conaanches, he 
crossed the Missouri at or near the present site 
of Kansas City from the North side, but no men- 
tion is made in his journal of his crossing to that 
side on leaving Fort Orleans. This point will 
be taken up later. The country about Grand 
Pass was a hunter's paradise. Deer, bear, elk, 
buffalo, and w^ild fowl were found in great 
abundance. 



VJ FORT OR f. FANS ON THF. MISSOURI 

As wi' li.ivi' stritid. the Osage Indians liad 
a villagf near this Pass, as did the Missouris 
also. The establishment of the Osage village 
antedates the visit of the first white man to the 
loeality. but it is generally stated that the Mis- 
souris did not locate here until after the estab- 
lishment of Vovt (Orleans. Whent e comes the 
authority for tuch a statement, we know not. 
After a careful examination of the authorities 
at hand, we give it as <^ur opinion that Fort Or- 
leans was established subsecjuent to the loca- 
tion of the Missouris at Petitesas Plains. In 
support of this opinion we shall present a few 
facts, 

Dutisne, whose vo^'age up the Missouri we 
have heretofore mentioned, in a report written 
at Kaskaskia on November 22, 1719, to Bien- 
ville, at New Orleans, says that the village of 
the Missouris, which he had visited on the said 
voyage made earlier in that same year (1719), 
was situatetl eighty leagues up the Missouri 
River. At a distance of one league from this 
village, to the Southwest, was the village of 
the Osages, and the latter village, he adds, was 
thirty leagCies from the other village of the 
Osage nation, situated oti the river of the same 
name. It is impossible to make this apply to a 
village sit uatt'd on the Howling rrreen F'rairie, 
hut it accurately locates the remains of those 
still «,MMi oil the Petit<'sas Plains. 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 43 

Francis Parkman was a most careful writer. 
Few of the statements in his monumental his- 
tory of "France and England in North America" 
have been successfully controverted. Subse- 
quent historical research may bring to light 
new matter bearing: on some topics, but for the 
most part Parkman's w^ork will stand for all 
time to come. On page 13 of the second vol- 
ume of his "A Half Century of Conflict" occurs 
this statement: "In the same year [1719] one 
Dutisne went up the Missouri to a point six 
leagues above Grand River, where stood the village 
of the Missoiiris." In proof of this statement, 
Parkman refers to the 6th volume of Margr}'^, 
pages 309-313, a letter from Dutisne to Bienville, 
probably the same one to which reference is 
made above. 

It w^ill be remembered that the Spanish 
caravan, in 1720, was attacked and destroyed by 
the Missouris, on the South side of the river. 
Had the great village of this nation stood on 
the Bowling Green Prairie at this time, it is 
not probable that a force of w^arriors sufficient 
to utterly annihilate the Spaniards would have 
been encountered on the South side of the 
Missouri. 

Le Page du Pratz is responsible for the 
claim that Fort Orleans was built on an island. 
Here is all that a careful examination of his 
"Historj'^ of Louisiana" reveals on this subject. 



n FOA'T ORL/L4NS ON THE MISSOURI 

\Vt* (junte from pii^es 290 Mtid 2i>7 of his first 
voliiiiu', the Kiiglisli edition: 

"'PluTc was a l-'rench post for some time in 
MM ishuul :) few k'a^ues in lenj^th, over against 
the Missouris; tlie French settled in this fort at 
the Kast point, and called it I'ort Orleans. M. 
de Hoiirgmont commanded a sufficient time to 
gain the friendship of the Indians of the coun- 
tries adjoining to this great river. He brought 
about a peace among all those nations, who be- 
fore his arrival were all at war; the nations to 
the North being more warlike than those to the 
South. After the departure of that command- 
ant, thev murdered all the garrison, not a single 
Frenchman escaped to carry the new^s; nor 
could it be ever known whether it happened 
through the fault of the French or through 
treachery." 

In his relation of Hourgmont's expedition 
to the Comanches, w^e find the following in the 
same volume of Uu I'ratz, p. 107 et seqticutia: 

"The Padoucas, who lie West by Northwest 
of the Misscniris, happened at that time to be at 
war with the neighbouring nations, the Canzas, 
Othouz, Aiaouez, (3sages, Missouris, and Pani- 
mahas, all in unit}' with the I'rench. To con- 
ciliate a peace between all these nations and 
the Padoucas, M. <le Hoiirgmont sent to engage 
them, as being our allies, to accompany him on 
a journcN- fo th(> l*adoucas, in order to bring 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 45 

about a general pacification, and by that means 
to facilitate the traffick or truck between them 
and us, and conclude an alliance with the 
Padoucas. 

"For this purpose M. de Bourgmont set out 
on the 3d of July, 1724, from Fort Orleans, 
which lies near the Missouris, a nation dwell- 
ing on the banks of a river of that name, in 
order to join that people, and then to proceed 
to the Canzas, where a general rendezvous of 
the several nations was appointed. 

'•M. de Bourgmont was accompanied by an 
hundred Misscniris, commanded by their grand 
chief, and eight other chiefs of war, and by 
sixty-four Osages, commanded by four chiefs 
of war, besides a few Frenchmen. On the 6th 
he joined the grand chief, six other chiefs of 
war, and several warriors of the Canzas, who 
presented him the pipe of peace, and performed 
the honours, customary on such occasions, to 
the Missouris and Osages. 

"On the 7th they passed through extensive 
meadows and woods, and arrived on the banks 
of the rivver Missouri, over against the village 
of the Canzas. On the 8th the French crossed 
the Missouri in a pettyauger, the Indians on 
floates of cane, and the horses were swam over. 
They camped within gun-shot of the Canzas, 
who flocked to receive them with the pipe." 

The remainder of the account of Du Pratz 



46 FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

is apparently a summary of the Relation of 
Hourgmont, which the former evidently had 
read, though the work of Hourginont was not 
pul)lished until 18S8, while Du Pratz's History 
appeared in 1758, the English edition in 1763. 
Copious extracts from Bourgmont's Relation, 
which has heretc^fore appeared only in the 
French language, are given below, hence we. do 
not follow farther the account of I)u Pratz. 

In this connection we reprint a few lines 
from the Memoire of Renaudiere (see p. Wl atite) 
that the weight of his testimony may be added 
to the authorities quoted above: 

"(Continuing to ascend, there is another 
river called Grand River coming from the 
North From there you go to the vil- 
lage of the Missouris which is not more than 
six leagues from there to the Southward. 
There are at that place one hundred lojiges. 
There is where M. de Bourgmont should estab- 
lish himself." 

It is upon the above statements that we 
base our conclusion that the establishment of 
the village of the Missouris in the Petitesas 
Plains, three miles Northwest of the village of 
the Little Osages, was antecedent to the found- 
ing of Fort Orleans by Bourgmont. As far as 
our researches have extended, it seems conclu- 
sive that Lewis and Clark are responsible for 
the statement that Le Page du Pratz located 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 47 

the fort on an island some five miles below the 
mouth of Grand River. Their statement giving 
this as the location of the fort is followed by 
both liradbury and Brackenridge, who ascend- 
ed the Missouri in 1811, though neither claims 
to have seen any ruins or other evidences of 
the fort. We have already quoted what each 
of these writers says in regard to the matter. 
But a careful examination of the histor3'- w^rit- 
ten by Du Pratz fails to discover any statement 
to warrant such a conclusion, and one i? puz- 
zled to understand upon what Lewis and Clark 
base their assertion that Du Pratz locates Fort 
Orleans on an island a few miles below the 
mouth of the Grand. 

The map which accompanies the history of 
Du Pratz locates a great island, as large as an 
average county, some forty or fifty miles belo^v 
Grand River and puts Fort Orleans on the East 
end thereof, which would locate it neai-er the 
mouth of the Osage than the mou«th of the 
Grand. Du Pratz evidently had a very indefi- 
nite conception of the geography of the Mis- 
souri Valley. But even this map does not au- 
thorize Lew^is and Clark to put the fort on an 
island five miles below the Grand. 

We shall now give our attention to the Re- 
lation of Bourgmont's expeditions to the Pa- 
doucas, as the same appears in the first volume 
of Margrj'^. and learn w^hat basis there is for the 



48 FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

claim that Fort Orleans stood on the North 
sitle of the Missouri, opposite the Fetitesas 
I'laitis. We shall first invite the attention of 
the reader to those portions of the Relation that 
bear upon the suhject under discussion. Sum- 
maries of those portions not pertinent to this 
inquiry are enclosed in brackets: 

Relation of the Expeditions of Sieur de Bourgmont, Cav- 
alier of the Order of St. Louis, Commander on th^ 
Missouri River, the Upper Part of the Arkansas and 
the Missouri. 
Departure from F(^rt Orlccins, Sunda}', June 
25, 1724. 

The detachment whicli is to go by water 
set out for the Canzas and Padoucas; it is com- 
manded by M. de Saint-Ange, ensign at Fort 
Orleans, with Dubois, sergeant, kotisseur and 
Gentil, corporals, and eleven private soldiers, 
to wit: La Jeunesse, Bonneau, Saint Lazarre, 
Ferret, Derl^ert, Avignon, Sans Chagrin, Pou- 
part, Gaspari, Chalons, and Hrasseur; five Ca- 
nadians, Merciere, Quesnel, Kivet, Kollet, and 
Lespine; and engaged by Kenaudiere, Toulome 
and Antoine. 

Monday, yttly j. — M- de Bourgniont departed 
overland, accompanied by MM. Renaudiere and 
Bellrive, cadet to the Company, d'Etienne, Rou- 
lot, and Derbet, soldiers, and a drummer, d'Ha- 
melin, a Canadian Gaillard, engaged by Sieur 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 49 

Renaudiere, and Simon, servant of M. de Bourg- 
mont, with 100 Missouris commanded by eight 
chiefs and the head war chief of the nation, 
and 64 Osages commanded by four chiefs of 
their nation. We passed two small rivers and 
arrived at our camp at 4 o'clock in the after- 
noon. We have traveled according to our es- 
timate six leagues. Great heat. 

Tiesday, yuly 4.. — We set out about 5 o'clock 
in the morning. We marched until 10 o'clock, 
w^hen we stopped till about 3 and then at 6. We 
have made according to our estimate about six 
leagues. Heat, good breeze on the hills. We 
have passed three small rivers; fine road, great 
prairies, hills, many hazel bushes laden witli 
nuts along the streams and valleys; deer are 
plentiful, 

Wednesday , July 5, — We made six leagues, 
according to our estimate. We have passed 
some streams, little groves of timber to right 
and left. Since our departure we have followed 
the point of the compass West and a quarter 
West-Northwest, 

Thzirsday, yuly 6. —We departed at 4 o'clock, at 
5 we passed a small river, at 8 we entered a 
wood, about 10 we passed a fine river on the 
banks of which we halted until 2 o'clock. [Met 
two Kansas Indians; at 4 o'clock met grand 
chief ui Kansas; smoked calumet; had feast and 
dance that evening.] We camped at the head 



50 FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

of the prairie. During our whole journey we 
ha%'e marched Westward. We ma<ie about five 
leagues according to our estimate; wind fn^m 
the North, fresh. 

Friday, July 7.— We set out at 4 o'clock. Af- 
ter marching one league across the prairie we 
entered the woods; we had many ascents and 
descents. During the wliole journey we trav- 
eled Westward, We have arrive<l at the bank 
of the Missouri, opposite the village of the Can- 
zas. We have made seven leagues in our day's 
journey. 

Saturday, July 8. -We crossed the Missouri 
River about 8 o'clock this morning in a pi- 
rogue, the hortes by swimming and the Indians 
on rafts. We debarked a gun-shot's distance 
from the village of the Canzas, where we went 
into camp, 

[Much sickness, principally fever, among 
the Indians. Bourgmont himself sick. Feast- 
ed almost daily by Kansas. Saint-Ange de- 
layed by sickness; Bourgmont sends him help.] 

Sunday, Jitly 16. — M. de Saint-Ange arrived 
at 2 o'clock with the convoy. A part of the 
men are sick with fever, which prevented him 
from arriving sooner. The Canzas came to take 
our new arrivals to their lodges to feast them. 

Monday, yuly ij. — Unloading pirogues and 
made presents from same to Canzas Indians. 
Asked Canzas to bring horses to trade. 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 51 

Tuesday, July i8. — Trading with Indians for 
horses. Disagreement about prices of horses. 
Bourgmont stopped all bartering. Chiefs came 
with calumet of peace and cried at his feet. 

[From the 19th to the 23rd the command 
was engaged in trading with the Indians for 
horses, slaves and peltries. On the 20th all the 
Osages returned to their village on account of 
sickness. Only about twenty Missouris left 
with Bourgmont. Daughter of grand chief of 
Kansas, aged thirteen or fourteen, offered to 
Bourgmont as his wife; Bourgmont replied that 
he was already married. Girl then offered him 
for his son; replied that his son was too young 
to marry. Heavy rain storms on 2lst and 22d. 
On the 23d the pirogues started on return to 
Fort Orleans, and a horse was stolen hy an 
Agovis,] 

Monday, July 24. — We commenced at 4 o'clock 
this morning to load our horses. The chief of 
the Canzas came to our camp and took the 
packs, w^hich we could not load, for their young 
men to carry, together with the haversacks of 
the soldiers. We set out at 6 o'clock in the 
morning, drum beating, colors flying, with arms 
and baggage. We were formed in line of battle 
on the high ground of the village, then the 
drummer beat the march and we started off. 
The grand chief gave the command to his camp- 
master and marched with us. We have marched 



52 FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

a league and a half along a river which flows 
from the vSnuthwest, where we made a halt, and 
the chief of the Canzes ordered his camp-mas- 
ter to mark off the camp of the French to the 
right, that of the Missoiiris next and his own 
nation in two lines. The front of our camp 
faced to the West and the rear to the Hast. 

Thursday, July 2j.- We left camp at 4 o'clock 
in the morning. We march«;d about a league 
and a half when we stopped for dinner and to 
wait for the people, who came up very slowly 
on account of the great heat and the heav}' 
loads which the Indians carry. We camped a 
gunshot distance from the river, on the height 
of a prairie. Sieur Kenaudiere was posted on 
the road where the people passed by. He coun- 
ted 300 warriors and 14 war chiefs, about UIM) 
women and 500 children, and at least 300 dogs, 
dragging part of the equipage. The women 
carried loads which astonished the Frenchmen, 
who had not yet seen this nation. I£veryone 
carried as much as one dog dragged, (xirls of 
ten to twelve years of age carried more than 
100 pounds. But it is true that with such bur- 
dens they do not make more than two or three 
leagues a day. 

Monday, July ji . — M. de Hourgmont is ver^' 
sick; it is impossible for him to sit on a horse, 
since he has lingered already for a long: time 
and fears bad results. He has decided to stop 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 53 

here and has ordered a hand barroAv to be 
made, so that the Indians may carry him, and 
wait until he is able to resume the achieve- 
ment of his enterprise. He has sent back a 
Padouca woman of about 22 3'^ears of age, and 
a large boy of about 16 or 17 years of age, w^ho 
w^ere slaves w^ith the Canzes, and whom he 
had traded from the Canzes for the express 
purpose of restoring them to their nation, to 
notify them that he was sick and obliged to 
take a rest, but so soon as he had recovered he 
w^ould resume his journey to them. M de 
Bourgmont also sent one Gaillard by name, en- 
gaged by Sieur Renaudiere, with them to rep- 
resent him in their country. He gave to each 
one w^ho went to the Padoucas a blanket of red 
Limbourg, to Gaillard two shirts and to each 
of the slaves a small package of vermillion, 
beads, a pot, a hatchet, awls, and some knives; 
to Gaillard three pounds of pow^der and ball in 
proportion; he also gave Gaillard one of the 
letters he had for the Spaniards in case he 
should meet them, and made him a passport 
written in Spanish, w^ith a letter to the Span- 
ish Almoner written in Latin. We are all in 
camp where w^e have made a stay, in land three 
leagues from the river of the Canzes and ten 
days' march from the first village of the Pa- 
doucas. 

[l?ourgmont and his party returned to the 



54 FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

village of the Kansas, reaching there on Thurs- 
day, August 3. A raft was built to take Bourg- 
tnont to Fort Orleans, departing for the fort on 
the 4th, in company' with Bellerive, Kenaudiere, 
one soldier, the grand chief of the Missouris 
and one of his warriors, arriving at two o'clock 
on the afternoon of the 5th. Sergeant Dubois 
and a soldier were left at the Kansas village 
in charge of the merchandise] 

Septembers. — We have heard to-day by a let- 
ter from Sieur Dubois, addressed to M. de 
Hourgmont at Fort Orleans, that the French- 
man who accompanied the Padouca slaves had 
arrived at the Padouca village on August 25th, 
having encountered Padouca hunters one-half 
day's journey from their village. The two 
slaves gave the signs of their nation, which is 
to throw their robes three times into the air 
and the Frenchman saluted three times with 
his flag. They approached and spoke at once. 
There was a war chief and a warrior of the 
Canzes accompanying the Frenchman, who had 
great fear at their approach; they saw them- 
selves among a nation w^ith whom they had 
been at war a long time; but the slaves whom 
M. de Bourgmcnt had redeemed did not fail to 
tell what they had seen. The hunters took the 
two slaves of their nation, the two Canzes and 
the Frenchman to their village and presented 
them to their Grand Chief, When the French- 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 55 

man had made known his mitsion, the chief 
patted and caressed him, and with great dem- 
onstrations of friendship, took him to all the 
lodges of the chiefs in the village and all be- 
stowed great civilities upon hira after their 
manner. 

As soon as M. de Bourgmont had learned 
this at Fort Orleans, he ordered Saint-Ange, 
officer, to proceed at once with three mounted 
soldiers to the Canzes with instructions. M. 
de Saint-Ange departed from Fort Orleans on 
tho first of September [evidently an error in 
date] and arrived at the Canzes on the 8th. 
As soon as Sieur de Saint-Ange had learned 
what occurred, he did not fail to advise M. de 
Bourgmont. When M. de Bourgmont received 
this news, he made ready to resume his journey 
to the Padoucas, although he had not quite 
recovered from his sickness. 

M. de Bourgmont departed from Fort Or- 
leans the 20th of September by water, in com- 
pany with M. de la Renaudiere, the chief sur- 
geon, his young son, and nine soldiers. M. de 
Bourgmont sent the same day a messenger to 
the Othos to notify the grand chief to come 
and join them with a party of warriors to ac- 
company him to the Padoucas. The French- 
man, Gaillard by name, sent to the Padoucas 
by M. de Bourgmont arrived at our camp Sep- 
tember 22d with three Padouca chiefs and two 



ofi FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

Padouca warriors, M. de Bourgiuont received 
them with flying colors, went and inet them 
and treated them with much honors. His men 
turned out under arms and were ordered to fire 
a salute of musketry. The Padouca chiefs 
were apparently well pleased with their recep- 
tion and somewhat astonished; afterwards M. 
de Bourgmont made them sit down in his tent 
and gave them red Limbourg blankets, and 
made them presents of several other articles of 
merchandise useful to them, 

Sieur Quesnel, Canadian, arrived the 4th of 
October from the Othos, where M, de Bourg- 
mont had sent him to notif^-^ the grand chief 
to come and join him at the Canzes. He 
brought with him seven war chiefs of that na- 
tion, M. de Bourgmont received them well. 
They arrived with the grand calumet of peace. 

On October 5th, at o'clock in the morn- 
iug, si,x chiefs of the Agovis arrived carrying 
the grand calumet. M. de Bourgmont received 
them well. 

To-day, the 6th of October, 1724, M. de 
Bourgmont has set apart some merchandise, of 
which he made three lots, one for the Othos, 
one for the Agovis, and another for the Pani- 
mahns. He put in these three lots powder, 
balls, Vermillion, spades, awls, wad hooks and 
gunflints, and other merchandise useful to 
tViom, and rnlled the chiefs of these llirt'e 



' FOR T ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 57 

nations together and made an address to thena. 
Octobers. — We set out at 9 o'clock in the 

morning from the Canzes to the Padoucas, w^ith 
arms and baggage and -colors flying. M. de 
Bourgmont, M. de Saint-Ange, M. de Bourg- 

mont's son, ancj Sieur Kenaudiere, a setgeant 
and seven soldiers, the Frenchman Gaillard, 
who had returned from the Padoucas, Sieur 
Quesnel, the surgeon major, Prichard, a ^Gana- 
dian, and one engaged by M de Renaudierev with 
ten horses to carry ithe merchandise. In our 
company are the fiveiPadoiucas who came to 
the Canzes, seven Missatiris^ the grand chief of 
the Ganzes, with four war chiefs of his nation, 
four war chiefs of the Othos and three of the 
Agovis. . I ',:■:' 

[On October 18th Bourgmont arrived at 
the village of the' Padoucas vsrhere lie was re- 
ceived with much ceremony and speech ma- 
king.^ Bourgmont on the 19th distributed his 
presents of merchandise, v^ith more speech 
making, which the Relation ':^&is, out in detail. 
It is recorded that about a half hour after one 
of these pow wows on the 2Gth, "a great num- 
ber of w^omen and girls catMe to our camp, 
marching in line one after another, some bear- 
ing a plate of cooked viands, and others again 
plums cooked w^ith nuts or dried in the sun. 
They brought us two plates of Indian corn, 
which they had cooked; they had no more in 



58 FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

their village. In fact one will hardly believe 
the caresses these people heaped upon us du- 
ring our sojourn with them. They took this 
morning M. de Bourgmont's son to the lodges 
and watched him all day and brought him 
back to his father in the evening. The son of 
the grand chief made him a present of a dozen 
blue stones (probably turquoises) which were 
strung up like a necklace." The treaty with 
the Padoucas was effected as desired.] 

October 22. ~ We departed from the Padoucas 
at 10 o'clock this morning. We marched till 
5 o'clock and made five leagues. 

The villages of this nation are remote from 
the Spaniards. They live from the chase in 
summer and winter. During the time they are 
not wandering they are at their large villages 
where they have large lodges. They go hunt- 
ing in bands of from 50 to 80, and when they 
arrive again at their old village those who have 
rested set out at once. The newcomers bring 
with them the dried meat, provisions, beef and 
venison, which they have provided. They find 
herds of buffaloes in great numbers within five 
or six days' journey, and whenever they have 
killed any they take whatever they want. 

The grand chief harangues the guard in 
his village when he wants to send his warriors 
to chase, to prepare themselves for the next 
day. He counts off from 50 to 60 warriors, 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 59 

mounted and armed with bows and arrows. 
They march about two or three leagues from 
their camp where they find herds of buffalo in 
which there are often from 200 to 400 heads; 
they commence to surround them and gallop 
with all the might of their horses, and force 
them so that they hang out their tongues a foot 
in length, then they chase the fattest buffalo in 
view and shoot their arrows at him, which en- 
ter the belly a foot. In this way they kill as 
many as they want. 

This nation does not plant much maize; 
they plant, however, some, and some pumpkins. 
They raise no tobacco, nevertheless th(;y all 
smoke when they have it; the Spaniards bring 
it to them; they also bring horses to them. The 
Padoucas use the skins of buffalo turned white, 
and others with the fur on, so they serve as 
covers. 

This nation is very numerous. They ex- 
tend about 200 leagues. They know silver, and 
according to their talk, the Spaniards work sil- 
ver mines near the village of their nation, for 
they showed us the manner in which the Span- 
iards work the mines. The villages remote 
from the Spaniards use flint knives for cutting 
middle sized trees, and also for skinning the 
buffalo which they kill. 

This nation is not totally wild, they are 
very neighborly, which may be ascribed to their 



60 FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

long intercourse with the Spanish. For our 
short sojourn with them, they were very famil- 
iar with the French, and they wanted M. de 
Bourgmont to leave some of his men with them. 
They said they would take good care of them. 

At the village where we entered into a 
peace treaty, there are about 150 lodges, which 
make about 800 w^arriors and more than 1500 
w^omen, and in the neighborhood of 2000 chil- 
dren. There are Indians who have as many as 
four w^ives. They have also a number of dogs 
"which drag their equipages when they are 
short of horses. The men cover all their mid- 
dles; the greater part wear pants of dressed 
skin. The shoes resemble those of the Span- 
iards. The women cover themselves in dressed 
robes; the bodice and the skirt are held togeth- 
er by strings of the same material. 

This nation is wholly destitute of mer- 
chandise which comes from Europe, and it is 
little known to them. When we fire off our 
guns before them they hang their heads in fear. 
When going to war they go on horseback, and 
they have buffalo skins to encompass their 
horses, to ward off the arrows. 

[On October 23d Hourgnaont marched ten 
leagues in K. N. K. direction, on the 24th ten 
leagues in an East direction, on the 25th ten 
leagues East, on the 26th ten leagues East, on 
the 27th he made six leagues and reached tlu' 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSObRI 61 

river of the Kansas which was passed; on the 
28th, eight leagues, direction East; 29th, no rec- 
ord; on the 30th, six leagues East, rainy weath- 
er; on the 31st, four leagues, and on account of 
rain camped w^ithin half a league of the Kansas 
village.] 

November i. — Departed at 5 o'clock. We ar- 
rived at the banks of the Missouri River at 3 (?) 
o'clock where we made a halt. At noon we 
passed the horses by swimming, and M. de 
Bourgmont had skin canoes made to embark 
the men and the Missouri Indians to descend 
to Fort Orleans. 

November 2. — M. de Bourgmont embarked 
with six Frenchmen in a canoe, and the Indians 
and four Frenchmen in skin canoes. M. de 
Saint- Ange had orders to go by land with the 
remainder of the Frenchmen and bring the 
horses to Fort Orleans. M. de Bourgmont ar- 
rived at Fort Orleans on the 5th of November 
at noon, where during his absence he had left 
M. de Saint-Ange's father in command. He 
fired the cannon on the arrival of M. de Bourg- 
mont, with a discharge of musketry; but first 
of all he had the flag hoisted, and then the Te 
Deum was sung in honor of the peace w^ith the 
Padoucas. 

We, the undersigned, having accompanied 
M. de Bourgmont on his first and second jour- 
ney to the village of the Padoucas to make 



(V2 FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

with this nation a treaty of alliance with the 
French, and of peace with the nations of the 
allies, who were at war with the Padoucas, we 
certify that the present [above] relation of said 
first and second journey is true in all and every 
point and particular, having seen and partici- 
pated in all of which it is made the subject 
matter, the contents and tenor of said relation. 
In witness w^hereof we have signed the present 
certificate at Fort Orleans in Missouri, this loth 
day of November, in the year 1724. 

(Signed): Saint-Ange, in the function of 
major; Kenaudiere, engineer of mines; Dubois, 
sergeant; De Lachennaire; Jeanty; Feret de 
Sorge; Honneau; Henry; x the mark of Chate- 
neuf; Quesnel; and x the mark of Prichard. 

[On the 19th of November, 1724, a general 
council of the nations of the Missouris, Osages 
and Othos was held "on the subject of ch«)ice 
of those whom they have deputed to go to 
France with Sieur de Bourgmont. By order of 
Messieurs the Commissioners." The Missouris 
sent four chiefs and the daughter of their grand 
chief; the Osaget sent four chiefs; the Ototoctas 
(Othos) one warrior.] 

Thus ends the Relation of Bourgmont's ex- 
peditions to the Padoucas. 

In the instructions given M. Perier, under 
date of September 30, 1726, occurs the following: 

A fort on the Kiver Missouri, abotit 180 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 63 

leagues from the Illinois, is kept up in mainte- 
nance; where there are actually twelve or fif- 
teen men, although the whole should be re- 
duced to eight. Whenever this expense ap- 
pears unnecessary to M. Perier, it has to cease, 
and he will send to this place the missionary 
who is assigned them. 

In La Harpe's relation of Dutisne's jour- 
ney up the Missouri, in 1719, occurs the follow- 
ing as translated from the sixth volume of 
Margry by Mr. Kilian, Secretary of the Quivira 
Historical Society, which translation came to 
hand after pages 42 and 43 ante w^ere printed: 

"The distance is 80 leagues from the mouth 
of the river Missouri to the village of that 
name. The prairie begins 10 leagues beyond 
their village This would be a good place to 
make an establishment; the Missout-is are jeal- 
ous because the French go to other nations. 
They are people who only stay at their village 
in the springtime. One league Southwest of 
them is a village of the Osages, which is thirty 
leagues from their great village. By the Mis- 
souri one can go to the Panimahas, to other 
nations called Ahuahes, and from there to the 
Padoucas." 

Stoddard, in his "Sketches of Louisiana," 
p. 46, speaking of the Spanish caravan of 1720, 
says: "Their first object was to attack and de- 



64 FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 

stroy the nation of Missouris, situated on the 
Missouri at no great distance from the Kansas 
River, within whose jurisdiction they medita- 
ted a settlement." 

According to some writers the Sacs at- 
tacked the Missouris on the Bowling Green 
Prairie about 1700, killing two hundred of their 
warriors, and that then it was the remainder 
fled to the Petitesas Plains, and not about 1725, 
as others maintain. This claim thoroughly 
harmonizes with the statements of Dutisne, 
La Harpe and others that the Missouris were 
on these plains in 1719. 

In Coues's Lewis and Clark, p. 26, we find: 
"The sites of both these Indian tribes [Little 
Osages and Missouris] are plainly marked on 
D'Anville's map of 1752, and also on Perrin du 
Lac's (Voyage dans les Deux Louisianes), 1805. 
The location is very near the present town of 
Malta Bend, in Saline County, and a little above 
this place is the large island of Du Pratz, where 
was old Fort Orleans." But Coues is in error 
in this last statement, as the map in Du Pratz's 
History places the island at some distance be- 
low the mouth of Grand River (see p. 47 atite). 
Coues also says on p. 24: "We also have 'Fort 
d'Orleans abandonne' marked on D'Anville's 
map, published in 1752, across the Missouri 
from his 'Petite Osage et Missouris.' This lo- 
cality is certainly at the large island which the 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSOURI 65 

expedition [Lewis and Clark] will pass on 
June 16, above Malta Bend." 

Very meager and unsatisfactory is the 
French record concerning the location of Fort 
Orleans, but its fate is tersely told in the fol- 
lowing extract from l^ossu's "Travels Through 
Louisiana" Vol. I, p. 145: "Baron Porneuf, who 
has been governor of Fort Orleans, established 
in that nation [the Missouris], and who knows 
their genius perfectly well, has informed me 
that they were formerly very warlike and good, 
but that the French hunters had corrupted 
them by their bad conduct, and by some disun- 
ions among them; they had made themselves 
contemptible by frauds in trade; they seduced 
and carried off the Indian women, which, 
among these people, is a great crime. All the 
irregularities of these bad Frenchmen irritated 
the Missouris against them; and, therefore, du- 
ring M. de Bienville's government, they massa- 
cred the Sieur Dubois and the little garrison 
under his command; and, as no soldier escaped, 
we have never been able to know who was 
right and who was wrong." In Dumont's "Me- 
moires Historiques sur le Louisiane," Vol, II, 
pp. 74-78, a similar statement is made. 

The first journey of Bourgmont from Fort 
Orleans to the mouth of the Kansas River was 



fit) FORI' i)RIJ':ANS ON I'H E MISSOURI 

made by land oii the North side of the Missouri 
— there is no question as to that. And no rec- 
ord appears of his crossings that stream to the 
North bank thereof prior to the beginning of 
the march. Hence, if the record is complete, 
as it appears to be, Fort Orleans must have 
stood either on the North bank of the Missouri 
or on an island situated on the North side of 
the !*iain channel of the Missouri. 

When \ve examine the record for the first 
day's journey from Fort Orleans (p. 48 ante), we 
find this: "We passed two small rivers and ar- 
rived at our camp at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. 
We have traveled according to our estimate six 
leagues." In the record for July oth we find: 
"Since our departure we have followed a point 
of the compass West and a quarter West- 
Northwest." 

Had the point of departure been an island 
five miles South of Grand River, the first course 
of Bourgmont would have been North, thence 
West, thence South, thence W^est again. He 
would have traveled some five leagues and 
crossed Grand River before he could have 
started on that Westward course which the 
record for July 7th states lie traveled since his 
departure from Fort Orleans. 

In the record for the first day it is stated: 
"We passed two small rivers." It may be as- 
serted that the Grand is the onlv river in thai 



FORT ORLEANS ON THE MISSObRI 67 

vicinity emptying into the Missouri from the 
North, but French scholars, among them so ex- 
cellent an authority as Dr. Thwaites, of the Wis- 
consin Historical Society, inform us that the 
French word riviere, ^vhich is here used, is ap- 
plied indiscriminately to rivers, creeks, brooks, 
and other streams in w^hich there is running 
water. Hence these "small rivers" are probably 
only small creeks, such as put into the Missou- 
ri along the South part of Carroll County, or 
into the Wakenda, which parallels Bourgmont's 
route for several leagues. The "fine rivers" 
naentioned further along are readily located. 

In view of these facts, and others heretofore 
given, it is the conclusion of the writer (1) that 
the Missouri Indians w^ere located about the 
present site of Malta Bend as early as 1719, and 
(2) that Fort Orleans, established by Captain 
Etienne Vengard de Bourgmont, probably in 
1723, stood on the opposite bank of the Missou- 
ri River from the Missouri village and at no 
great distance therefrom. 



